The Ninth Circuit has determined that the Board of Immigration Appeal's decision in Matter of Yauri is not entitled to deference, and that the Board has jurisdiction to reopen removal proceedings using their sua sponte authority when an arriving alien seeks to adjust their status before USCIS. It awaits to be seen if the Board determines that such circumstances rise to the level of "exceptional circumstances" required for a sua sponte reopening.

The most interesting part of the decision was the broad language used by the Ninth Circuit. The court stated that the Board has broad power to grant a motion to reopen in any case for thepurpose of affording an alien the opportunity to pursue relief from removal before another agency. I think it's an open (and very interesting!) question whether executive relief (i.e. DACA, prosecutorial discretion) constitutes "relief from removal before another agency." If so, I'd say there's a new argument that the courts can (and perhaps should!) start granting MTRs for the purpose of applying for DACA and PD. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

The full decision (Singh v. Holder) can be found here: http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2014/11/13/09-73798.pdf